Research: Fields, Photonics, and Magnetics

This area broadly describes the interaction of electromagnetic waves with materials to yield useful devices including optical fibers, spintronic memory, and antennas for cell phones. To that end, faculty in ECE are engaged in research over the full frequency spectrum including light
interacting with graphene, the use of fluids for tuning radio frequency circuits, and magnetic disk drives that combine both microwaves and light, both focused to nm length scales. Much of our work is collaborative and interdisciplinary with a strong connection to industry through two industry supported centers: C-SPIN and MINT. Research includes fabricating devices, measuring their electromagnetic performance, and simulating expected behavior.

Research News

Scientists at the University of Minnesota, in collaboration with researchers from Pennsylvania State University have discovered the existence of magnetoresistance in topological insulator-ferromagnetic bilayers. This discovery has significant implications for the semiconductor industry, and opens up the door to enabling low power computing, brain-like computing, and chips for robots in the near future. The details […]

Kriti Agarwal and Meghna Mankalale are recipients of the Louise T. Dosdall Fellowship for the 2018-2019 academic year. The Fellowship is awarded by the Graduate School to women graduate students in the natural or physical sciences and engineering, who hold superior academic records and show professional promise. Meghna’s research focuses on the design and optimization […]